As the weeks passed, Draco settled into a new "home" routine. He would wake early; as he always had done, and pad to his bathroom next door to wash his face with his flannel. Then he would dress. No longer did he have to wear the robes that he had always had to wear when he was with his parents, now it was casual muggle clothes. Loose black cotton jogging bottoms, cheap grey cotton T-shirts. This time last year Draco would have dismissed these as muggle rubbish. Now he was beginning to appreciate that whilst they weren't all that stylish, they were comfortable – perfect for dossing around at home in. It wasn't as if he needed anything smarter, he'd been in contact with his friends, but he couldn't see them yet. Harry was strangely incommunicado, Hermione was unable to get anywhere with her parents working all the time and she wasn't allowed guests over either. At least, not Draco. Ron was another matter entirely. Draco's correspondence with Ron was really long, and they'd spent most of their holidays writing letters to each other. Draco couldn't visit Ron however, nor could Ron visit Draco. Arthur Weasley would not have anything to do with a Malfoy. Not even one who had been sorted into Gryffindor. That Draco was a Malfoy in name only, well, he'd kept that quiet - it simply wasn't the done thing to tell other people about things like that.

At any rate, a three way correspondence had let Draco know they would be going to Diagon Alley to buy school stuff next Wednesday. Apparently, Harry had somehow managed to get to go over to Ron's so would be coming with them. Uncle Noctifer had an important business meeting that day, so was unable to take Draco himself, but he saw him off through the floo network and gave him a generous amount of galleons with which to buy his school stuff and 'have a bit of fun.'

It was with trepidation that Draco set off to the Leaky Cauldron. He was the first to arrive out of his friends. The next person to turn up was Hermione. She bustled into the pub, bringing her two parents along with her. They looked rather out of place there, everyone, including Draco, in long flowing robes, whereas Hermione and her parents were definitely in muggle clothing and stood out like a sore thumb.

'Hermione! How are you?' he all but ran over to her and gave her a friendly hug.

'Great, thanks Draco. Think Mum and Dad are getting a bit of a culture shock.'

'Yeah' Draco agreed, having quickly glanced at her parents.

'Well, do you need to go to the bank or anything while we wait for the Weasleys?'

'I'll do it when they get here, we're running a bit late, so they probably won't be too much longer.'

'All right. I did all that earlier.'

'So, Draco, are your parents about?'

'I don't think so; they said they weren't going to be around today.' Draco lied deftly. He still wasn't ready to tell his friends about that letter from his father. The rest of the day went well. It started with a brief panic, with Harry getting lost in Borgin and Burke's, until he was rescued by Hagrid. In there, he had seen a tall, blond-haired man-who Draco thought sounded suspiciously like his father- selling some, well, peculiar items. Draco put it out of his minds, as he trudged through the alley, popping into shops to resupply his stock of common potion ingredients, get some owl treats for his owl and buy the year's books. He had been curious when all the books he'd needed had been by Gilderoy Lockhart, with the exception of the Standard Book of Spells Grade 2. When they reached the bookstore a further surprise was in store for them. The man himself, Gilderoy Lockhart, in resplendent blue robes, sat as a king in his court, ready to sign hundreds of books for admiring fans. Then he spotted Harry. Draco could sense Harry cringing at this public treatment- anyone who even slightly knew him could see that he was hating it- but his sympathy for his friend turned instantly to intense irritation when Lockhart announced he would be teaching at Hogwarts. That imbecile! And lining his own pockets at the same time by making people buy his books, the greedy bastard.

'Honestly, Harry, can't even walk into a bookshop without making the front page' Draco teased.

'Oh leave off, Malfoy!' replied a small girl Draco hadn't seen before, presumably Ron's younger sister judging by the hair. Draco felt the opportunity to carry on having some fun.

'Ooh, Harry, looks like you've got yourself a girlfriend!'

Draco looked up to see the one man he didn't want to see at this moment. Lucius Malfoy.

'Come, now, Draco, play nicely.' He said.

'Oh deary me. What have we got here?' He picked up the bundle of books which Ron's sister, Ginny was it? Was carrying in a pewter cauldron. At that moment Arthur Weasley walked over.

'Everyone alright here? Come on lets go going, it's crazy in here.' His eyes glanced up.

'Lucius' he said coldly.

'Arthur.' came the equally curt reply. Lucius Malfoy gave his son one final look of disgust and walked away out of the shop.

'Wow, Draco! That's your Dad? What have you done to upset him, he really seems annoyed at you.'

'Yeah, well, he has been for a while, I doubt seeing me with you will have done anything to improve his attitude towards me though.' Said Draco.

'Why?' asked Hermione, 'What did you do in the first place?'

'Nothing that you haven't done yourself.' Said Draco defensively. He didn't want to talk about it. Not yet anyway.

The next stop on their tour of Diagon Alley was Quality Quidditch Supplies.

'Come on, Harry, you'll make the house team for sure when you try out- you are going to need to buy yourself a broomstick.'

'But what if I don't make it? I don't want to spend money on something I'll never use.'

'Oh come on Harry,' said Ron, 'A broomstick's dead useful, even if you don't make the team, not to mention the fact that you will. We need a new Seeker remember, Jack McNish left last year and there's not anyone in Gryffindor who can do better than you.'

The three boys walked into the shop whilst Hermione showed her parents Ollivander's. It was crowded in there, everyone was gathering around a sleek, new racing broom.

The Nimbus 2001, the placard below it read, is the fastest broom ever to be made by the nimbus Broom Company. With a 0-150 time of 14 seconds, and new safety feature,s this lighter than-ever model can be flown all day, every day. Its uniquely shaped tail has been tested under new conditions to provide the most streamlined broom ever made. Price: 2,999 Galleons.

'Wow.' Draco and Harry were both amazed at the broom. It looked beautiful. Ron however had spotted something in the far corner.

'Hey, Guys! Come and have a look at this.' Ron shouted over. They worked their way through the crowd and went over to the empty corner of the shop where Ron was standing. He was looking at the most peculiar broom Draco had ever seen in his life. It had none of the Nimbus' beauty, none of its straight-line speed, and if looks were anything to go by, it was balanced to within a fraction of an inch of perfection. They read the sign below it.

Last of the line! The Waxwing is the product of master craftsman John Cattell. It is the best handling broom available today. It may not have the best speed, (0-150 is 18 seconds, a long way off today's best), but it can out turn any broom on the market. It can turn within its own length at speeds up to 55 mph . With a Lifetime guarantee the Waxwing will be the last broom you ever buy. Price: 150 Galleons. Limited stock available.

Harry and Draco were impressed. This was a real sports broom, able to turn at pace. Its looks may not have been as spectacular as that of the Nimbus, but the three boys loved it. When they asked how many were left, the manager tod them that there were three in the stockroom, plus the one on display. Harry and Draco brought one each, and split the cost of one for Ron between them. Ron turned scarlet as he started to protest.

'I don't need one guys, it'll be fine, you don't have to do this.'

'Ron,' said Draco, 'It'll be more fun for all of us if you have one too. That way we can all go out flying. Anyway, what good is it coming from a family like mine if you can't spend a bit of money on your friends, eh?' This finally let Ron accept it. The idea that his broom was going to be paid for by Lucius Malfoy! His Dad'd love it.

They met Hermione and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron, their parents had butterbeers, whilst the kids had pumpkin juice. When they had finished these the group split and everyone went home.

'See you on September 1st' called Draco, as he stepped into the fireplace to floo back up to Leicestershire.

That evening Draco showed Uncle Noctifer the broom.

'A Waxwing, eh Draco? Nice. Very nice. As finely balanced as one could wish for, by the looks of the thing it'll be fast too. Nice and light, that's also good. So, how much did that set you back? A pretty penny I'll bet.'

'Actually, it was only 150 Galleons.'

'Wow.' Noctifer was speechless. Never had he seen such a broom for so little.

'Uncle N?' asked Draco, 'How am I going back to Hogwarts- Dad said he wouldn't pay my fees for this year.'

'Don't you worry about that Draco, I'm doing it. It's not as if I can't afford it and I owe your Dad big time.'

'Why's that?'

'Well, when old Abraxus kicked me out of the family when I got sorted into Ravenclaw, it was Lucius who took care of me, paid the fees and so on. He'd left Hogwarts two years before me, you see, so he could afford it. When I left school I set up my business, when I had enough money I tried to pay him back but he wouldn't have anything of it. Asked me to take care of you when he kicked you out, though. Don't think he particularly wanted to do it, but Abraxus will laid it down as a strict condition, any Malfoy not sorted into Slytherin House to be disowned. So now you're here.'

'Uncle Noctifer? What is it that you actually do?' Draco asked, stunned by this revelation.

'Me? Well, I'm in construction. Magical builder. Now don't look at me like that, it's a highly skilled job, all transfiguration and charming and so on. I think I'm the only one in the whole country.'

'I wasn't looking at you like that, I just realised that the reason Mother was so friendly to the man who came to built the portico was because he was you. I've always thought that was a bit odd, really.'

Draco enjoyed the rest of the holidays, spending most of his time flying about on his new broomstick. It was a thing of beauty and a joy to fly. Draco couldn't remember when he'd been so happy in his entire life, just flying about without a care in the world.

But then September the first came, and as he sat down on the Hogwarts' express he sighed to himself. Somehow he knew that school wasn't going to be so much fun this year.